Lost
by HTYDFan
Summary: An accident leaves Hiccup badly injured and the only way Toothless can get him back to Berk is if someone comes looking for them. But will help arrive too late?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: This is my first 'How to Train your Dragon' story. If the characters are a little off, which I am hoping they aren't, please forgive me. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. I accept all kinds of feedback, including criticism as long as it helps me improve as a writer. I will try to update this story often or as time permits.**_

_**Disclaimer: As much as I would like to claim credit, I do not own the rights to How to Train your Dragon, which includes any of its characters. They belong to Dreamworks. The only parts of this story that is rightfully mine are plot ideas and characters I invent.**_

**Lost**

**Chapter One**

Toothless wrapped his tail around the injured boy to keep him warm. The fall had rendered Hiccup unconscious and despite the dragon's efforts to cushion his friend's fall, Hiccup had been injured - a large gash lay on the side of his forehead and blood stained the side of his green shirt.

Toothless gazed up at the sky. Unless Hiccup regained consciousness and was strong enough to travel, there was only one way to get back to Berk - someone would have to come looking for them. Not knowing how long that would be, he knew the only thing he could do for his injured friend was to make him as comfortable as possible.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Astrid stood at the edge of the cliff and surveyed the sky. She knew Hiccup went on his morning flight with Toothless. It was their morning routine - every morning the two would fly off somewhere and return a few hours later. Today, however, Hiccup and Toothless had been gone longer than usual.

"What are you doing?" Ruffnut asked curiously as she approached with her brother.

"Waiting for Hiccup to get back," Astrid absently replied, her eyes glued to the clear blue sky above.

"He's probably already back," Tuffnut replied. "He's never gone this long."

Astrid finally turned her attention to the twins. "That's just it - he _isn't _back yet."

Tuffnut and Ruffnut glanced at each other. While they didn't keep track of their friend and his dragon like Astrid did, even they knew that Hiccup being gone this long was unusual.

"Well maybe he decided to stay out longer today," Ruffnut replied.

Astrid cast her eyes once again at the empty sky above. "Maybe. But I just get this strange feeling that something's wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

**Lost**

**Chapter Two**

The sun began to fall and the air grew chilly. Hiccup, still unconscious, started to cough. Toothless gently nudged the boy's head, but he did not wake. The dragon looked up at the yellowish orange sky. He had hoped that by now he would have seen someone looking for them. But all through the day, the sky remained empty and Hiccup began to get worse.

Toothless gazed down at the injured boy that lay between his body and his tail. If help didn't arrive soon, he feared that Hiccup would not survive.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON **_

Stoick paced the length of his home. He was both furious and worried. Furious that Hiccup was not home yet and worried for the same reason - Hiccup never stayed out this late. He wanted to go looking for his son, but didn't know where to start. Everyone in Berk knew that Hiccup and Toothless went flying every morning. But no one knew _where_ they went flying to.

A faint knock at the door brought the leader out of his thoughts. He turned and opened the door. "Astrid," he greeted. "What is it?"

"I wondered if Hiccup was back yet."

Stoick turned around, allowing the girl to enter his home. He shook his head in dismay. "No, he's not." He turned toward her, his blue eyes filled with worry. "Astrid, he talks to you. Has he ever mentioned anything, ever given any clue as to where he and Toothless fly every morning?"

Astrid thought about this. She had been thinking about it all day and had yet to come up with an answer. "No. I asked him once where they would go and he said they went wherever Toothless wanted."

Stoick shook his head somberly. _That could be anywhere_, he thought to himself.

"What are we going to do?" Astrid asked. "Hiccup wouldn't stay out this long unless something was wrong."

Stoick stared at the fire crackling in the fireplace. There was only one thing to do. "Come sunrise we go looking for them."

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Astrid rose early the next morning. The sun wasn't fully up yet, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to wait any longer. "Come on, Stormfly," she said. She mounted her dragon and they were off.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted - my internet has been down since early this morning. I am using my laptop to post this chapter. Since my laptop internet isn't always reliable, I do not know when I will get chapter 4 posted, so please be patient until my home computer internet issue is resolved. Also, I would like to thank all who left me reviews on this story - they are greatly appreciated. As per your request, this chapter is much longer. **_

**Lost**

**Chapter Three**

"Stoick," Gobber called out as he approached his friend at the docks. "We might have a wee bit of a problem. Astrid is no where to be seen and that's not all either, Stormfly is also gone."

Stoick's brow wrinkled in thought. There was only one explanation for the girl's sudden disappearance. "She must have gone to search for Hiccup," he said. "This will help us, Gobber. If Astrid took Stormfly, then she's searching from the air…"

"And with us taking the boats, we'll be searching from the ground," Gobber concluded. He realized that Stoick was right - with Astrid searching from the air and they searching from below, the chances of finding Hiccup and Toothless had doubled.

Stoick nodded. "Right," he agreed. "Let's get going. I want to find them before nightfall," he continued as he and the blacksmith turned, getting onto the boats.

As they sailed out to sea, Stoick gazed up at the clear blue sky before looking ahead. He had seen Hiccup and Toothless fly off in their current heading the previous morning and while he didn't know if that's the way the two continued to go, it was the only thing he had to go on to find his son. As he once again cast his blue eyes to the sky, he prayed that Astrid would spot something from above.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Astrid surveyed the forest ground below. Looking for any sign that Hiccup and Toothless had been there. She never knew where Hiccup and Toothless went exactly, but something told her to search above the forest several miles from Berk.

She had circled the wooded area three times now and was ready to give up and search another area when the sun reflected on something below that caused it to shine in her eyes.

Squinting, she saw that the source of the gleam was on top of a tall spruce tree. Flying lower, Astrid eyes went wide when she saw what the object was - Hiccup's helmet.

Stormfly got close to the tree, allowing Astrid to grab hold of the helmet. She held it in her hands and stared at it for a moment before looking down at the forest grown below. _If Hiccup's helmet hung from the top of the tree_, she thought to herself. _Then there's a good chance he's somewhere down there._

Astrid knew that she couldn't search the entire forest by herself. She would have to go back and get help. Turning Stormfly around, she proceeded back to Berke and hoped that her theory about Hiccup being somewhere in the forest was right.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Toothless surveyed their surroundings. He knew by the trees that encircled them that they were in the forest that lay only miles from Berk. It was a distance that Toothless could run, but to do that he would have to leave Hiccup - something he was not willing to do.

As he walked around, Toothless spotted a small cave in the distance. He went to investigate and saw that not only was it empty, but it was also the right size for him and Hiccup to take shelter from the bright sun.

The dragon turned around and went back to his unconscious friend. He gently picked him up and carried him to the cave.

As Toothless laid Hiccup down, a slight groan escaped the injured boy's mouth. Hiccup moved his aching head side to side, licking his lips and opening his eyes. Blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision, he saw the rocky cave ceiling above. Turning his head ever so slightly, he saw Toothless sitting by his side, his large eyes full of concern.

"Toothless?" Hiccup chocked. His reply was a slight nudge from his friend, indicating the happiness the dragon felt at having him awake.

Hiccup swallowed as he thought back, trying to remember what led him to get hurt. He remembered he and Toothless had gone on their morning flight as usual. He recalled them flying over the south forest as they have done countless times before. Then he remembered the accident - he had jumped off of the dragon - a stunt he had attempted countless times before which always resulted in him managing to get back onto his friend's back. This time, however, was different. He had jumped at the wrong moment. The wind was against him and he ended up being whacked accidentally by Toothless's tale, causing him to hit a tree.

Hiccup realized that is when he must have blacked out because that was the last thing he remembered. He took a deep breath before slowly sitting up, clutching his injured side. He leaned against the cave wall breathlessly and looked out the entrance. He saw the sun was high in the sky and realized that it was morning. He looked at Toothless. "We've been out here all night?"

Toothless gave a slight nod.

Hiccup rested his hand on his aching head and closed his eyes. "Dad's going to be _so_ mad," he mumbled.

Toothless nudged Hiccup's arm, giving him a long stare before moving his eyes to the entrance of the cave. Hiccup understood - with him awake, the dragon felt they could fly back to Berk.

Resting his hand on his stomach, Hiccup knew that leaving now was not the best idea. He was in pain all over and his stomach felt like it had been turned upside down. "We'll try to get back to Berk a little later, bud. Right now I don't feel so good," he said as he rested the back of his head on the cave wall and closed his eyes.

Toothless lay down and rested his head on Hiccup's lap. He knew his friend was in pain. He wished that there was more he could do for him but for now, however, all he could do was sit there and wait.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: Once again, I'd like to thank all who have reviewed on this story thus far. I've been getting an error message when trying to respond to individual reviews, so that's why I thank you in my author's notes. **_

**Lost**

**Chapter Four**

Flying back to Berk, Astrid spotted Stoick's large boat in the sea below. This was a relief to the girl who realized that she would not have to fly all the way to Berk after all.

"Come on, Stormfly," she said as she motioned for the dragon to fly toward the boat.

"Stoick," Gobber called out as he pointed to the sky. "It's Astrid."

Stoick made his way through the other villagers. He leaned against the edge of the boat as Astrid approached. Immediately he saw Hiccup's helmet. "You found Hiccup?" He asked hopefully.

Astrid shook her head as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "No. But I did find his helmet." She handed Stoick his son's helmet and continued. "The south forest - it was on top of one of the trees. That could mean that he's in the forest somewhere."

Gobber approached Stoick. "That could also mean he fell. How else would his helmet get on top of a tree? Surely he wouldn't have put it there himself."

Stoick thought about this and nodded. "Gobber's right. Hiccup and Toothless must have had an accident. That's the only way the helmet would be where it was." He looked at the rest of the villagers. "We set sail for the south forest!" He announced.

"Stormfly and I will fly on ahead. Maybe if I fly lower, I'll be able to spot Toothless," Astrid said. She turned her dragon around and proceeded back to the south forest. _At last, _she thought to herself. _We might have found Hiccup._

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Hiccup felt sick to his stomach - he hadn't eaten anything since before he and Toothless set out on their morning flight the day before.

Toothless gently nudged his friend. His big eyes conveyed the concern that he felt at seeing Hiccup is such distress.

Hiccup smiled and rested his hand on the dragon's head. "I'll be okay, bud," he said as he started to cough violently. Resting his head against the cave wall, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his stomach. "I really don't feel good," he mumbled.

Toothless knew he needed to do something, otherwise Hiccup would only continue to get worse. Suddenly an idea hit him. He quietly exited the cave and walked over to the nearby pond.

Thrusting his head into the water, Toothless emerged a few minutes later and went back to the cave.

Hiccup opened his eyes just as Toothless entered the cave. "Where'd you go, bud?"

Toothless sat in front of the boy. He opened his mouth and poured out half of a fish - just as did when they first met.

Hiccup wrinkled his noise. That was the one annoying thing about dragons - they loved to share their food. "Thanks, Toothless," he mumbled as he picked up the fish. He didn't want to eat or even take a bite out of it, but he suspected that the reason he felt sick was because he hadn't eaten. That was one thing his father always told him - that if he didn't eat, he would be sick.

Hiccup took a bite out of the fish. His face indicated the unpleasantness of doing so. He swallowed and shook his head. _Man does that taste nasty_, he thought to himself. Looking up at Toothless, he smiled, much to the dragon's delight.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

The boat made its way to the edge of the south forest. Stoick looked on. Somewhere in there was his son - he just knew it.

He turned and looked at the rest of the villagers. He could see in their faces that they were all ready to get started searching for Hiccup and his dragon.

"We'll spread out in pairs," he said. "Look everywhere that a boy and a dragon can be. If Hiccup did have an accident while riding Toothless, then we have to keep in mind that one or both of them could be hurt. Otherwise they would have made it back to Berk," he continued. He jumped out of the boat. Gobber soon followed and stood by his friend's side.

"Well, where do we start?" Gobber asked.

Stoick stared directly ahead. "We go straight - into the belly of the forest. That's where they are, Gobber. I can feel it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Lost**

**Chapter Five**

Toothless lifted his head up and his ears twitched. He thought he heard in the distance his and Hiccup's name being called out. He looked over at Hiccup and saw him sitting leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, appearing to be asleep.

The dragon stood up and walked out of the cave, his ears straining to listen for any further shouting of their names.

"Hiccup!" Toothless heard. He would know that voice anywhere - it was Stoick.

Toothless turned and looked back at the cave. He didn't know if Stoick would be coming that way, which meant there was a chance he would not spot the cave.

Looking back toward Stoick's voice, Toothless knew there was only one thing to do - he had go get Stoick and bring him to Hiccup.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

Stoick and Gobber walked through the dense forest and continued to call out.

"Hiccup!"

"Toothless!"

The distraught father shook his head and collapsed to his knees in defeat. They had been searching the forest for hours and yet no sign of his son or the dragon.

"Where can they be Gobber?" He asked.

Gobber gazed down at the dirt forest ground, unsure how to answer this question. Since the ending of the war, Stoick and Hiccup had become closer than they had ever been - unlike before, they were able to talk to each other now.

"Stoick, I know you're worried. We all are. But we have to have faith that we'll find them. We can't give up."

Stoick looked up, his blue eyes full of determination. "You're right, Gobber," he said. He stood up and shook his head. "I lost myself for a moment."

"No, my friend, you were just acting like a worried parent."

The two Vikings heard twigs breaking followed by a large thumping. They turned to their right and to both of their delight, saw Toothless running toward them.

"Toothless!" Stoick called out, relief evident in his deep voice. When the dragon approached, he asked. "Where's Hiccup?"

Toothless turned and ran back toward the cave with Stoick and Gobber following in close pursuit.

_**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON**_

"Son!" Stoick said excitedly as he, Gobber and Toothless entered the cave.

Kneeling next to his sleeping son, Stoick brushed his hand through the boy's hair. His heart ached to see the dry blood on Hiccup's forehead and on the side of his shirt.

Gobber stared at the injured boy. He knew they had to get him back to Berk. "I'll go gather up the villagers and tell them to get the boat ready," he said as he turned and left the cave.

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked, trying to wake his son.

Hiccup began to stir, his eyes fluttered and he groaned.

"Come on, son," Stoick encouraged.

Hiccup opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision. He squinted when he saw his father hovering over him, worry sketched all over his face.

"Dad?" He whispered.

Stoick nodded. "I'm here, son. You're going to be all right," he said as he picked up the boy gently in his arms.

"I don't feel so good, dad," Hiccup admitted as he rested his head against his father's broad chest.

"I know, son," Stoick acknowledged. "Just rest. We're taking you home," he continued as he walked back to the boat with Toothless by his side.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story and added it to their favorites list. I am very glad that you all liked it so much. This is the final chapter and I will be posting my next HTYD story titled "Changes," within the next few days.**_

_**Since this chapter is the final chapter, it is a bit short. This chapter is basically what I would call an epilog to the story.**_

**Lost**

**Chapter Six**

Stoick sat in a chair parked next to Hiccup's bed as he gently dabbed his son's feverish forehead. The healer had given the boy medicine and wrapped his wounds, but said that Hiccup was still a very sick boy.

Now one day later, Hiccup lay asleep with a fever as Stoick and Toothless stay by his side.

Stoick took hold of his son's hand in his. He looked over at Toothless and gave a slight smile. "He'll be all right," he said as he looked back down at his son. "He has to be."

Hiccup moved his head slightly at the sound of his father's voice. He swallowed and opened his eyes.

Stoick brushed his hand through his son's brown hair. "How do you feel, son?"

"A little better," Hiccup whispered. "My side still hurts."

"It will for a while. You had a good size cut there. How does your head feel?"

"Well the room isn't spinning like it was before," Hiccup answered.

Stoick smiled. "Well, that's a good sign, Hiccup. It means you're getting better."

"Where's Toothless?"

"He's right here," Stoick replied, moving over a bit to allow the dragon to come closer.

Hiccup smiled. "He kept me alive, dad."

Stoick nodded in acknowledgment. "I know, son. I know." He stood up and walked to the table and grabbed a bowl. He returned to his son's side and asked. "You ready to try some soup?"

Hiccup studied the bowl in his father's hands. In a way he was hungry, but in another way, he wasn't. He looked up at his father and shook his head tiredly. "Maybe later.

Stoick rested his hand on Hiccup's forehead - he was still warm. "You get some more rest, son. We'll try to get some soup into you later."

Hiccup nodded as he let his heavy eyelids close and he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Stoick looked at Toothless and smiled. "He's going to be just fine. I know that now." He rested his hand on the dragon's head gently. "And it's because of you. Thank you for saving my son again."

Toothless rested his head on Stoick's lap as the two sat there by Hiccup's side in silence. There were no words needed - both were just grateful that Hiccup would be all right.

_**THE END **_


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